Bob Wade

The Wade Experiment Fades

Bob Wade’s legacy at Maryland as its basketball coach for three years, following the death of Bias, is mixed. His NCAA violations will be remembered for setting back the basketball program for years. Wade called the group of men’s basketball coaches in the conference an “old boy’s network” in a Charlotte Observer report and added that his time in the ACC was difficult. But as the first black head coach of a men’s basketball team in the conference he can be considered a cultural pioneer, despite appearing uncomfortable in that role.

Even Robert Slaughter, who hired Wade, ultimately questioned the wisdom of the move. “In retrospect, it might have been an impossible situation for Bob,” he told the Washington Post in January 1990. “Bob followed a coaching legend. He was black. He was appointed by a black chancellor. He’s from a high school. He’s hired one day before practice begins. And the players had gone through hell after Leonard’s death. Throwing Bob in the middle of that was like throwing a piece of raw meat to a pack of lions. You’re going to get chewed up if you don’t do things perfectly. I don’t think Bob got the support he needed from many people. There were people within the athletic department as well as outside the department who did not want him to succeed.”

Bob Wade’s legacy as a beloved high-school basketball coach, however, continues to grow. In 2008 some of Wade’s former players at Dunbar honored the coach at a roast in Greenbelt, Maryland, a town about five miles from College Park. Those attending included former NBA player Muggsy Bogues and former Maryland star Graham. As of the fall of 2011 Wade worked as the athletic director with Baltimore City Public Schools. “He loved all of us,” Graham said in a Baltimore Sun report promoting the event. “He cared about us. He made a difference in the lives of a lot of young men in more ways than just coaching basketball.”

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

Congressional Misstep

Congress Passes the Anti-Drug Abuse Act

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, passed in direct response to the death of Len Bias, reestablished mandatory minimum sentences for first-time drug offenders that had been removed from federal law in 1970. It stated that a person manufacturing or distributing at least 500 grams of powder cocaine faced a five-year mandatory minimum sentence, with a maximum 40 years, and those manufacturing or distributing at least 5,000 grams of powder cocaine received a 10-year minimum sentence, with a maximum of life imprisonment. A person manufacturing or distributing at least 5 grams of crack cocaine received the five-year mandatory minimum while those manufacturing or distributing at least 50 grams of that form of the drug received the minimum 10-year sentence. For sentences longer than the minimum, there was no hope of parole; it had been abolished in the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. By comparison, someone would have to possess 100 grams of heroin or 100 kilos of marijuana to receive the same five-year sentence with no parole as someone found with 5 grams of crack cocaine.

The 1988 Anti-Drug Abuse Act applied the mandatory sentences of the 1986 act to anyone who was a member of a drug-trafficking conspiracy. Under the law, if a defendant worked as a doorman to a crack house but never sold, used or purchased the drug, he was liable for all the crack sold during the time the group operated the crack house, even before and after he worked as a doorman. Within six years of passage of the conspiracy amendment in 1988, the number of drug cases in federal prisons increased by 300 percent. From 1986 to 1998, that number increased 450 percent.

Eric E. Sterling, a federal sentencing reform advocate, from 1979 to 1989 was counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, and was also a principal aide in developing the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 and the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988. In 1989 he switched roles from federal policy wonk to consumer advocate when he became president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, a private, nonprofit group that promotes education about criminal justice problems.

He admits now that passing the anti-drug bills was a mistake. “The legacy of this legislation should be whether or not it has succeeded in making the United States a safer, healthier place for its citizens,” says Sterling, who has become an advocate for sentencing reform. “From my perspective, it has not. It failed. I did not think at that time that mandatory sentencing was a good idea. But the members of Congress and the Judiciary committee were my clients and that was my assignment. I had certain kinds of concerns and reservations about that kind of approach. This weighs on me a great deal.”

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

Changes in Terps Athletics

Maryland Athletics Restructures

By the early 1990s, that culture was one of discomfort and uncertainty. A big reason was perhaps the most significant move made by Perkins, toward the end of his three years at Maryland. On May 16, 1990, he announced that varsity teams would be restructured into four tiers. That day, he also said the school would eliminate athletic scholarships in eight of its 23 varsity sports and would reduce scholarship money by 70 percent in five others. Perkins said a budget crisis made worse by NCAA sanctions against the men’s basketball team prompted the moves.

Six sports – football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s lacrosse, women’s volleyball and women’s field hockey – were placed in the first tier. Those sports, which had a history of competing for NCAA national honors, received $1.5 million of the $1.871 million available for scholarships. In the second tier, four sports – women’s lacrosse, men’s wrestling, and men’s and women’s soccer – each received $64,000 in scholarship money, representing a 15% cut in aid. These sports were expected to contend for ACC championships.

Third-tier sports would have their scholarship aid reduced by 70 percent: baseball, men’s and women’s swimming, and men’s and women’s cross-country would each receive $25,000 in scholarship money and compete regionally. Men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track, men’s golf, women’s gymnastics, and men’s and women’s tennis were placed in the lowest level and would operate without scholarships. They would compete locally except for ACC competitions.

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

Boston Celtics

A Dynasty Crumbles

The 1985-86 Celtics were arguably one of the best teams in NBA history, compiling a 67-15 record, notching the second-most wins in a season in team history and winning their third consecutive division title on the way to becoming NBA champions. In 1986-87, the Celtics were considered strong favorites to win their fourth NBA title in seven seasons and almost did, winning their division again before losing to the Detroit Pistons 4-2 in the NBA finals. By the mid-1990s, the Celtics–which has won more NBA titles than any other franchise– had evolved to become one of the worst teams in the NBA, in part due to death of Reggie Lewis in 1993.

Steve Bulpett wrote about the death of Bias for the Boston Herald, where he has covered the Celtics for nearly three decades. The day Bias was drafted in 1986, Bulpett flew on the same airplane from New York to Boston as Bias. A couple of days later, he traveled to College Park to report on the player’s death. He remembers after a long day of exhaustive reporting telling himself that Bias’s death was the worst thing he would ever have to write about while covering the Celtics. “I spoke too soon,” says Bulpett. “Bias’s death was a shock, but Lewis’s death was more traumatic not only because he had played for the Celtics but because he played for Northeastern (University on Boston). He was part of the community. Bias to Celtics fans was a ghost. Lewis was the guy they lived with for years.”

The season after Lewis died, the Celtics finished 32-50, its worst record since the 1978-79 team that won only 29 games. Through the 2001 season, the Celtics never won more than 36 games in a season, and employed four different coaches. They recorded losing records for eight consecutive seasons. The 1996-97 team won only 15 games, the lowest total in the team’s history. Dee Brown, a sixth-year guard, said in a Boston Globe story that people called the Celtics a “laughingstock. We had no direction.”

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

No. 2 NBA Pick

Celtics Draft a Star

After NBA Commissioner David Stern announced Bias as Boston’s pick, the crowd roared. The newest Celtic uncoiled his long, lean frame from his arena seat, walking slowly as he approached the stage, smiling. Someone handed him a Celtics cap. Cameras flashed as he shook Stern’s hand. A couple of minutes later, during his first comments in a television interview, Bias was asked by former NBA star Rick Barry why he wanted to play for the Celtics. “They’re a good team and they got, uh, good, uh, supporting players,” he said sheepishly, stammering a bit as he toyed with the Celtics cap. “I can go up there and sit on the bench and whether I go in and play or not, and I learn a lot from, ah, the players there or learn a lot from playing myself.” Barry asked him if he could accept the role of being a benchwarmer for a while. Bias chuckled and said, “I guess I’m gonna have to.”

Asked where he needed to improve, Bias said, “Well, I think I need to improve more on my ball-handling and my all-around play.” When Barry made some closing comments at the end of the interview, Bias smiled before peering to the side and biting his lip. Later, he said the first thing he wanted to buy was a Mercedes-Benz automobile. As for the Celtics, they felt they already had their prize.

“He’s going to be a star someday, no question about it,” Auerbach said in an interview from Boston. “He gives us a lot of support. He can play some guard, he can play some forward, he can play a power forward, a quick forward. He is the best athlete, in my opinion, in the whole draft, and he’s going to really help this ball club. … He’ll get his playing time. … We’ve had guys sit around for a while. Except in this particular case, he’s gonna play. In fact, he’s ready to play now. Larry Bird said if we drafted this kid, he’d even come to rookie camp. He’s very high on the kid. He’s the guy we wanted, and we got him.” Bias seemed to accept a reserve role as a Celtics rookie. “I’m ready to take the role of a learner now,” he said in the Boston Globe the day of the draft. “I can learn from great players here.”

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

Jay Bias

Another Bias son dies tragically

Windowless and bleacher-less, the drab beige box with the synthetic floor isn’t much to look at. But typical of basketball courts in the rec centers of middle-class black communities for more than a quarter century, it’s not the floors and walls that count. It’s what happens on the former and what decorates the latter. On the far wall of the court at Columbia Park Recreation Center – The Rec – in Landover is a poster announcing the dedication of the Wharton “Mack” Lee Madkins Gymnasium on November 25, 2002.

For decades, Madkins was the director of the center and helped coach Bias and others in both football and basketball. The poster contains a collage of photos that reflect Madkins’s influence on the thousands of children he guided during his reign at The Rec. Madkins poses by a mantle of trophies. Madkins comforts a young boy. Madkins stands with his assistant coaches in a football team picture. Madkins tucks a football under one arm as he gently places the other around the shoulder of a young, smiling player, above words attributed to Madkins that read: “They may leave, but they always find a way back.”

Many of those who Madkins coached or mentored through the years have indeed returned to the Columbia Park area. Some, such as Waller and Walker, not only returned but took on roles similar to that of Madkins, teaching younger boys about sports and life. But some were not so lucky. One, Jay Bias, is part of the picture on the bottom right of the poster. He flashes an easy smile and wears a green T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Boston Celtics” in bright, white letters. Jay’s legend at The Rec is as profound as Len’s, for different yet sadly parallel reasons. Neither made it back.

In late 1990 Jay had gone to a jewelry store in Prince George’s Plaza to check on an engagement ring he had ordered for the girlfriend he had dated throughout high school. In the store Bias saw Jerry Tyler, who accused Jay of flirting with his wife, a store clerk. The two men argued. As Bias walked away with two friends, Tyler said “C’mon outside, c’mon outside,” one of the friends, Andre Campbell, said in a news report. Bias responded, “Look, I’m just purchasing a ring… all this stuff ain’t necessary, man.” Campbell said that minutes later someone in a Mercedes-Benz drove up next to the car in which Jay sat in the passenger seat while waiting at a stop sign outside the mall. Someone from the car fired, killing him.

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

Brian Tribble

Incarcerated

For the last quarter century, since partying with Bias, David Gregg and Terry Long on June 19, 1986, Tribble has been forced to defend himself against the prevailing theory that he provided the fatal cocaine. His raspy, spacy voice on the 911 call from the scene was played repeatedly on newscasts in the ensuing days, shattering Tribble’s anonymity. “I’ve done a lot of shit that was bad, but I became a drug dealer after [Bias died],” he says during a later phone conversation. “Before that I was just a light-skinned dude running around [the Maryland] campus.”

Just before noon on August 6, 1990, Tribble turned himself in to the U.S. Marshals Service in Baltimore, Maryland. At Tribble’s detention hearing, prosecutors claimed he was responsible for distributing between nine and twenty two pounds of cocaine per month and engaged in a “consistent pattern” of drug trafficking, not related to Len Bias. On October 15, 1993, Tribble was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison and received credit for the time he had already served.  While incarcerated, Tribble earned a fitness certification and shortly after leaving prison, he landed a job as a trainer at a Bally’s fitness center in northwest Washington, D.C. Tribble says he was fired after only about 30 days, but was never given a reason. “Maybe it was because I was Brian Tribble,” he says, referring to his reputation as the person who killed Len Bias.

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

Lonise Bias

A Life Transformed

For the past 27 years, many have marveled as Lonise Bias has turned personal grief into a catalyst for change, transforming herself from a middle-class Christian mom into a national icon so that others can benefit from her unfathomable loss. Within weeks of the famous death of her eldest son, Len, she began speaking out against drug use, and the murder a few years later of Jay only fueled her mission. More than a quarter century later, Lonise Bias still preaches passionately to all who will listen, promoting the power to overcome even to those who don’t remember or think they don’t care.

Since becoming a motivational speaker and consultant, Bias has accumulated a client list that includes the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy as well as the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Department of State, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, according to the website lonisebias.org. She has spoken to military groups, students of all ages, corporate groups, faith-based groups and the National Basketball Association. Bias, who received an honorary Doctor of Education degree from Anna Maria College in Massachusetts in May 1990 and prefers to use the honorific, has been listed with at least a half dozen speakers groups, including the American Entertainment International Speakers Bureau and Speakers.com. AEI hires her for a few events per year at a fee that does not exceed $10,000 to speak to groups that include schools, churches and teachers, colleges and Fortune 500 companies. Speakers.com promotes Bias’s fee as ranging from $5,000 to $10,000.

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

50 for 50 – Len Bias’ Golden Moments #35…Tony Massenburg

Through Nov. 18, Len Bias’ 50th birthday, the Born Ready Blog will provide each day a new item that helped define Len’s legacy, 50 in total.

A Robust NBA Career

Of all the players on the Maryland roster in 1985-86, Tony Massenburg was the one few predicted would be one of the more enduring pro players in Maryland history. But by the time he played his last NBA game in 2005, Massenburg had played in the league for 13 seasons for 12 different teams. The only former Maryland players who have forged longer NBA careers are Buck Williams (17 seasons), Joe Smith (16) and John Lucas (14).

Like many of his teammates, Massenburg thought about transferring out of Maryland after Bias’s death. “I thought that I’d seen the worst this program had to offer,” he said, “so why should I leave for some place that may even be worse? I could’ve said, ‘This is it. I’m not doing this anymore. Somebody is out to get me.’ I kept striving. Besides, I really liked the area and the people I made friends with. I still thought I could make something of myself up here. I knew there would be a rainbow at the end of all of this.”

“I can honestly say there hasn’t been anybody in the history of NCAA basketball – barring injury – that has had a rougher career at one school than I have,” he says.

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.

Find out about the Born Ready Hoops Festival  Nov. 22-24, that will honor Len’s legacy as a basketball player.

Jeff Baxter

A Long Transition to Acceptance

Once burdened by the death of Bias, his close friend and roommate of four years, Jeff Baxter now talks comfortably about the trying times he endured in the few years that followed. He agreed to be interviewed for Without Bias but says that in the past he has mostly been very guarded about what he has discussed. Baxter agreed to talk at length because he says he has nothing to hide. “It took a while for me to come to grips with it,” he says. “I avoided countless interviews with numerous people over the years, and only because I thought at the time that it may be a target session for Coach Driesell and Lenny’s family. I can see why it haunts a lot of people.”

Baxter says that, until a few years ago, something would happen every day that would make him think about Bias. Now, he mostly reflects on his friend and teammate only when asked. At the D.C.- area premiere of Without Bias in 2010, Baxter abruptly walked away from the entrance before the showing when he saw cameras. He says he waited across the street until the excitement faded. “That wasn’t a celebratory moment to me,” he says.“That wasn’t a moment to gain or regain fame.” During a bathroom break that night, Baxter spotted Steve Francis, a Maryland star for just one year in 1998 before joining the NBA. Francis was crying so hysterically that Baxter remembers him barely able to stand up. “He said ‘You guys were the reason I went [to Maryland],’ ” says Baxter. “But I’m sure he meant Lenny, because he was the star.” To Baxter, Bias’s legacy is simple: He was a great basketball player who made a bad choice. As he sat alone at the Saloun the evening of June 19, 1986, Baxter realized that life was too short and that one never knows what will happen next. He says Bias’s death solidified lessons his parents had taught him. “You’ve just got to be careful about the choices you make, because not all of them are going to be right,” he says.

Excerpted from the book, Born Ready: the Mixed Legacy of Len Bias

Learn about the Born Ready Project that teaches life skills, using Len’s legacy as a teaching tool.